Animal
by Nekomix79
Summary: Orihime Inoue is a young grade-schooler living with her brother. They are constantly running from their abusive parents, and when they're finally found, Orihime's whole life changes. She is thrown into a Garganta and falls into Hueco Mundo. The small girl is met with a large panther, who teaches her the ways of the hollow, and she soon learns what it truly means to be animal.
1. Chapter 1

Animal

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Chapter 1: What is Happening?

Sora Inoue was a secretive man. He knew things that normal humans didnt see or realize the possibilities of. No one knew how, but he had a power, unlike all the humans surrounding him.

He could tell that Orihime Inoue, his younger sister, was special too. He had named her Orihime, because she was like royalty to him, a soft delicate flower that he would always keep safe.

Safe from what?

Their parents where abusive, more like a deadly threat. Even Sora could not understand how two cold hearts could be together, threatening to murder the things they created. Their babies. He couldn't understand.

So he ran away with his sister, trying to escape. He swore his their parents were monsters, seeking the blood of their own children's flesh. They kept searching for them.

Sora became like a father to Orihime. He started a new life with her, and helped her continue a healthy, normal lifestyle. She was important, an ordinary girl with special abilities. The bullies at school were just too foolish to see that. They could both relate to those troubles. But it was the least of their worries. It was bullies or murderers.

Orihime was still in grade school when they found them. Her hair was choppily cut because of the kids at school, making her look even younger than she already was. Orihime had just gotten home from school when they barged in.

Sora came running when he heard her scream. Her mother had Orihime by the hair. "You are going to be punished for running away! You filthy little street rats!"

Sora fought with all of his might against those beasts who had terrorized them for so long, had kept them on the run since the beginning. But they had weapons. Guns, knives, the whole deal.

Sora died that day. But Orihime didn't. Sora had power, one that someone would find impossible. He had the ability to do things that humans couldn't but others could. Like hollows.

When Sora was at deaths door, he used his hollow powers to open a Garganta. He threw Orihime in just before he died.

"S-sora..." Orihime shook with fear, her quivered gasps coming out quickly as she watched him bleed to death on the floor.

"We're givin' you a chance darlin', okay? You don't want to end up like your brother there do ya?" Her father asked.

"You..." She trembled. "You stay away!" She screamed. "Stay away!" She got hysterical, kneeling down beside Sora, covered in bruises and blood. "Stay away from us!"

"You do as I say!" The man yelled back, his rumbling voice shaking the walls and making her cower and scream. "Now you come here right now before I do to ya what I did your brother."

"No!" Orihime sobbed, tears falling violently down her cheeks. "Not without onii-chan!"

Sora slammed his hand on the ground, struggling to get up. He wrapped his arm around Orihime, holding her tightly against him. "You may just have to live without me." He choked. Orihime was shocked silent, energy getting clogged up in her chest and throat with all the bad things that she didn't want to happen but were anyway.

"You...can't win this time." Sora breathed heavily, speaking to his parents. "You won't touch her." As he said those words, he opened the Garganta

He hoisted Orihime up. "Sora...sora what are you doing?"

Orihimes breath caught in her throat.

"I'm setting you free, my little princess. So you can build your own castle."

"No sora. No! No sora what are you doing you can't!" She screamed.

Then, with a yell, he threw her in.

Fear overtook her body as she was plunged into darkness, and her bloodcurdling screams echoed in the velvet blackness.

"Sora! No!" She screamed, utterly terrified and pained.

He threw her in. All alone. Where she would live. And he would die.

Orihime couldn't stop screaming.

Light flashed before her eyes, and she felt gravity take its hold. She gasped and opened her eyes, seeing what looked like sand below her. She screamed louder, knowing for sure that she was falling to her death as she felt that horrible flighty feeling in her stomach.

Everything went black when she hit the ground, and her screams were silenced.

XxX

The panthers slick back shined brightly in the dark as he stood proudly on his four legs, his ears pulled back and his black lips in a snarl. His tail twitched as light flickered off his skin from the moons rays.

"Eat us, Grimmjow." The voice of his comrade rang out in the night. The panther scowled. "We've eaten our three thousandth hollow. We see now that evolution is impossible."

"You have a chance, but we are hopeless."

Grimmjow snarled, turning to look at all of his pathetic partners lined up in a pity party. "You can all go die in a ditch for all I care." He walked away, his black paws padding in the sand.

"But you are our king, Grimmjow!"

"Now, as you are,"

"You aren't even worth killing."

They were silent as he sonidoed away, leaving them all to die a hopeless death.

Grimmjow knew he was a rogue beast. A monster with only the highest quality of blood, a potential to truly become the king. He didnt care, he would kill anything that got in his way. He would kill everything.

And atop the endless pile of corpses, there would be Grimmjow, shining and beautiful in his own horrid disposition.

His muscled body flexed as he clawed at the sand, moving his limbs faster as he picked up speed. The cycle would end when he decided it. He stopped suddenly, digging into the sand and making it fly everywhere. He threw his head back and howled at the moon, declaring himself king, deciding that there was nothing non-feral about his empty soul.

Orihimes eyes flew open and she gasped at the terrible roaring. It chilled her violently, making her whimper and sprint away.

Orihime saw a small cave in sight, and with little fear for what was inside versus what was behind her, she scrambled inside, trembling and cold. Once she had gotten herself fully inside the living room sized cave, she fell against a wall, crumpling to the ground and weeping.

When Orihime awoke, it was still dark. Confused and hungry, she slowly got up and walked outside. It was depressing, like a never ending dessert. A few dead looking trees were scattered here and there, who knows how. The only thing that was truly beautiful was the crescent moon that shone up above, it's moonlight providing a perfect view of her surroundings. It was as if the sky was merely painted black during the daytime.

She walked up to a tree near the cave, and saw that it was pure white. She slowly took a part of the branch and picked it off like a twig. It was a brittle substance...almost like bone.

She hugged her arms. "Where am I?" She began to cry again. "Sora where did you send me? I don't know where I am and I'm alone here...!"

She opened her eyes. She couldn't be alone. Sora wouldn't send her to such a horrible, dead place without someone to protect her, would he? She had to find civilization. She looked at the endless terrain before her with tired eyes. Her skimpy school uniform blew loosely in the wind, along with her choppy hair. Even the wind felt dead, lukewarm and hollow, like a quiet breeze.

Then Orihime realized something somewhat encouraging. She could heal herself with her Shun Shun Rikka and restore her body's supply of food, hence not starving to death. She could keep herself alive as long as she wanted to. It had always been that way.

But there was no point in living if there was nothing to live for. She had to find civilization.

And with that, she began to walk.

It had been hours, and Orihime still trudged on in her petite school flats. Her figure was slumped, and she stumbled in the thick sand. It was like a sequence, one foot in front of the other a countless number of times. She felt so hopeless in that moment, seeing nothing except pointless white and deceptive spots that turned out to be trees.

Just as she was ready to break down her knees and cry again, emotionally and physically exhausted, she heard a terrible screech. It shook her bones, and she whimpered and opened her mouth wide at the jet-engine scream. She fell to the sand and scrunched up, knowing that running to a safe spot would be pointless. She looked around wildly, uncomfortable and wired in every way.

Then she saw something that made her as white as the sand. There, in the air, swooped a monstrous beast resembling a Phoenix, all white with the wing span the length of three cars.

It looked at her with beady red eyes, screeching again.

Orihime Scrambled up and ran for her life, scared eyes as wide as saucers.

With a powerful swoop of feathers, the monster bobbed up and down in the air, gaining speed before taking her arms in its talons.

Orihime screamed wildly, kicking her legs and breathing jaggedly. The monsters grip on her flesh only excited her fear.

It took a long time for Orihime to finally get a semi-grip on her situation, realizing that a giant bird had just swooped down and plucked her up. She was lunch for an animal. Unfortunately, Inoue had watched enough Animal Planet to know what happened when a snake catches a mouse or when a bird brings a worm to her babies. She was food. She was going to get eaten.

She started breathing hard again, reaching panic attack mode. It was fight or flight instinct, and flight wasn't really an option right now.

The horror really hit her when she saw a neatly arranged grave for her. A bone nest rested atop a high mountain of rock. Tiny screeches could be heard from within. She let out a high pitched whimper.

"Ts-Tsu-Tsubaki!" Golden Light streamed from her blue hairpins. "Koten Zanshun! I reject!"

The light shot up, hitting the bird. It screamed, and Orihime did the same. The large animal flapped its one, uninjured wing violently, dropping the girl. She screamed as she fell, her stomach got that flighty feeling as she fell down to a ledge in the mountain. She fell on her side, bouncing back and fracturing her hip bone. She began to slide off the ledge. Her hands groped furiously as the hard rock tore her shirt and scraped her stomach. Finally, her small hand grabbed into a rock attached to the ledge. She yelled out in fear, whimpering. She couldn't even feel the pain in her hip, the adrenaline rush was too much.

The giant Phoenix screeched, falling behind Orihime and hitting a few rocks on the way. She grunted anxiously, struggling to pull herself up. When she finally got back on the ledge fully, she instinctively tried to stand. She crashed to the ground, holding back a scream of pain. She speedily dragged her body to the long and narrow cave at the back of the ledge. It very much resembled the old cave she had resided in, and she managed to drag herself in fully.

She began to shake, her lungs welling up and making it hard to breath. Her sobs came through I'm short intervals with gasps in between. She was barely able to call upon her shun shun rikka, but once she did, she felt instant relief as the orange glow surrounded her. Once the process was done, she still had'nt been able to calm herself. She slowly crawled with shaking limbs to the corner of the dry cave, trying not to think, not believing that this was actually happening.

Listening to: Spectrum of the Sky

-Break of Reality


	2. Chapter 2

Animal

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Chapter 2: Did you come to sleep with me?

Grimmjows form burst from the sand. He immediately tensed, looking around with beady blue eyes, his tail and ears twitching. He lifted his nose, sniffing the air.

He growled, digging his claws into the sand and starting off again.

Soon, his prey came into view. He skidded to a halt, at least 500 yards from the creature. It was a winged hollow, resembling a female Phoenix. The seemingly injured hollow made an uneasy landing, immediately picking at a small meal with its beak.

He crouched down low, his white exoskeleton blending perfectly with the sand. His shoulder blades moved up and down nervously as he readied himself, eyeing the animal. Eventually, the bird stopped, snapping its head up.

Grimmjow took his chance. With a roar that shook the sand, he raced forward across the sand at the speed of light, eyes set on his meal. The large Phoenix screeched, flapping its injured wings fruitlessly as it struggled to escape.

Grimmjow looked closer. He saw the large slice on the birds left wing. That wound...the reaitsu swirling around it...

It was human.

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes furiously, snarling. The bird finally managed to take flight, flapping desperately to get away. Grimmjow pounced, using all of his leg power to jump high in the air.

He extended his claws, his upper lip curled back to expose his fangs. He tilted his head, seizing the creature by the neck. They both tumbled to the ground, rolling violently along the sand until they skidded to a halt.

The bird flapped and struggled, the large cat growled, slamming his large paw into the Phoenix's throat.

"P-please! Spare me!" The bird hissed. "I am a mere low-rank adjuchas-"

The bird squalled when Grimmjow applied pressure, growing silent.

"Tell me where you received your wound." Grimmjow snarled.

The Bird started. "W-why-"  
The bird howled, his feathers flying when Grimmjow stabbed him with one claw. He jarred the head of the Phoenix against the ground. "Tell me where!" Grimmjow roared.

"Alright alright! the-there was this human girl...do not ask me how she got there...I thought she would be a good snack for my offspring!" The bird hissed in a snake-like voice. "As I was carrying her away, some sort of golden light streak across my wing; I was instantly immobilized, that's all I know-GAH!" Grimmjow dug his claws into the creatures neck, shutting it up. He lifted his nose, sniffing the air. She was nearby.

He looked down at the struggling Pheonix under his grasp, narrowing his blue eyes. "How many infants have you conceived?"

"Heh. Why would you-"

"I asked you a question!" Grimmjow roared angrily.

"F-five. Five infants."

Grimmjow smiled, if that was even possible for him, and leaned in. "Gooood..." He licked his lips. "They'll be a good snack before I find the human girl, you can count on that, buzzard."

The bird looked him straight in the face and screamed. Grimmjow took its beak in his jaws, ripping it off.

Blood flew everywhere, and feral, undistinguished sounds echoed throughout the air.

XxX

Orihime breathed out, her small body tensing slightly against the uncomfortable rock. Her grey eyes fluttered open. She immediately noticed the soreness in her feet when she moved them, and the jagged rocks against her spine and shoulder blades. She began to take in her surroundings, observing the texture and feel of the rock around her. She was silent for several minutes, numbly exploring the cave.

Her instincts kicked in. "O-okay...okay...okay Orihime everything is going to be just fine if you follow your survival instincts. You used to be a Girl Scout, remember?" She laughed nervously, talking to herself.

_The first step into insanity,_ the back of her mind thought.

"Alright, first thing is food." She took a deep breath, bringing out her shun shun rikka to restore the food supply and water in her stomach.

"Now," she crawled forward "I just need to get familiar with my..." She trailed off, keeping her hand on the ground. "Surroundings..."

No. No she couldn't go out there. Not with those things everywhere, not after what happened. It had traumitized her, terrified her to death. She was frozen stiff, unable to move any further.

Her eyes were locked on the entrance, leading out on a ledge that was who knows how high up. She had to go out. Just not now, definently not right now. Ever...?

Grimmjow ran across the desert, growling out breaths as his feline brain worked. He would find the human girl. Conveniently, she was right at where the Phoenix kept her babies. He licked his face were the blood and feathers stuck.

The reaitsu swirling around the wound said that this human was powerful, and he could tell it wasn't just in the defensive. In deeper analyzation of the wound, he could tell she had many sorts of powers. It was very dull and muddled, but he knew she was different.

He would find her, experiment on her, then eat her. he would probably gain some of the human's power. He knew this to be true of many of the hollows he ate, gaining more spiritual pressure. He was genuinely curious though, a trait which was usually unlike him. He had never seen an actual human in person, all he knew is that he used to be one. Pfft. As if.

Suddenly, a terrifying spiritual pressure sliced through the air like a knife, filling the place like a dark poison. Grimmjows wild blue eyes went wide, and he was frozen stiff, his limbs twitching. He got low to the ground, or rather, was pushed low to the ground, his ears flicked back as he growled nervously.

He looked into the horizon, and saw nothing in his vibrating vision, just white sand and black sky. He looked to the right, seeing nothing.

He looked to the left, and there was nothing. The right; nothing.

He looked back to the left, and _there it was._ The _thing_. It could only be a thing, judging by its inhuman power and appearance. It was dark, with a skinny pale body, a disgustingly powerful aura pounding into everything.

Grimmjow was unable to tear his eyes away, shaking violently.

He blinked, and it was closer.

he shook his head, backing away, and it was _right there._

It was there, and it was like nothing else Grimmjow had ever comprehended. It was like satan himself had paid him a visit, the flames licking at his heels as his bones were crushed.

_Vasto...lorde!_

It was over. Just like that, his life was going to end.

Huge dragon like wings, wide emerald eyes, twisted horns, and a tail like a viper, that was all Grimmjow caught a glimpse if before he was literally flung into five different hells, the ball of its tail hitting him in the torso, cracking his armor and flinging him halfway across the desert.

XxX

Orihime's breathes were shaky as she neared the entrance. "It's okay...it's okay you can do this."

She clung to the side of the opening, an opening ledge still before her. She made a nervous sound, her fingers digging into the wall as she shuffled her feet, the wind blowing her skirt around.

She counted to three, and looked down. Her stomach dropped. The height was unbelievable...it was something a little girl like herself just couldn't fathom. She began to feel sick, and had to look away. She began breathing quickly, pressing her forehead against the rock. She eventually got the courage to look out over the horizon, where the sand touched the night sky.

It was surreal. Barren yet wild in its own way, it was terrifyingly beautiful.

She didn't even realize how many nights she would be staring at the same horizon. She didn't realize that that would become home to her. Moreover, engraved into her soul.

As she was staring off into the desert night, she saw something. A beam, a speck. It was white, and it was coming closer. _It was coming closer. _She felt an instinctive pang of fear. Was it another monster coming to kill her!? It was approaching at amazing speed. She scrambled back inside the cave just in time, lunging forward in the dark as the thing crashed into the outside wall.

It all happened so quickly, and her senses were running wild. She screamed when the white, slender thing fell right on the entrance to the cave. The rock rumbled and vibrated before it collapsed on top of the animal. She covered her face with her her hands as everything went dark, and dust flew everywhere.

It was after about a minute that everything was quiet, and she slowly opened her eyes.

The cave was dimly lit, thanks to a few openings in the rubble that was blocking the mouth of the cave.

She gasped. To the right of the entrance, underneath the rock, lay a creature. The top half of its body lay exposed, it's paws and head laying limply.

It-...it was a cat! A tiger, a lion, maybe a panther. But this panther was completely white, with no fur. Armor instead took the place of it, wrapping around the body of the animal and creating a sleek, smooth structure. But she shouldn't say it was completely white. It had these unearthly green markings underneath it's closed eyes, trailing up to the thing's black ears. The paws were also black, not to mention incredibly huge. It's claws were retracted for the time being, seeing as this thing was unconscious. But the child couldn't help but think about how this animal wasn't just a beautiful, majestic creature, but one that was dangerous, frightening, a monster with claws and teeth used for ripping apart the victims flesh.

Orihime sat with her knees cuddled to her chest, frozen stiff with surprise and fear. She was a smart girl, but what could she do?! She was a ten year old girl trapped inside a cave with a sleeping panther!

She blinked, brushing her short hair behind her ear whilst breathing slowly.

Would it hurt her?

Of course it would! It's a monster that eats meat no doubt, probably little girls too.

But why would it crash into the wall of mountain like that? It looked like a reasonably smart animal, with primal instinct and sense of direction. It hit the wall and then the rock collapsed on top of it, and it was out cold. Maybe it was thrown, or attacked?

She immediately felt pity for the large creature, even though it could probably kill her in one swipe.

What if was just an innocent animal that was attacked? No, not innocent, she corrected herself, there was no way a being such as this could be innocent.

She continued to stare and stare and stare. There wasn't much that she could do, and she didn't want to take any action. She was afraid that any moment, the beast would wake up and lash out. And that would terrify her.

XxX

It had been two days. She felt as though she was already going insane. She hadn't lost hope yet, she would go crazy before she did that. Two days with absolutely nothing to do, nothing you could do, those where the times when you really though about things.

The panther had still not awoken.

It had already crossed her mind a thousand times that the thing was dead. Oh how that scared her. To be trapped in a coffin with a dead thing was eerie and nightmarish. She didn't know how much longer she could take this.

She just wanted to go home.  
She just wanted...to go home.

**I AM SO SORRY FOR UPDATING SO LATE.**

**I was working on Luna Negra so ya that new chapter will also be awesome so check that out.**

**thank you reviewers for...you know...reviewing:D. I really do appreciate it though, and I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH MWAH *****


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